Portable burial-vault.



No. 720,163. PATBNTED FEB. 10, 1903; B. F. LOGKWOOD. PORTABLE BURIAL VAULT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1902.

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Nomns Virus 00.. Pnmoum" wAsnwcrow n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. LooKvvooD, or LYONS, NEW YORK.

PORTABLE BURlAL-VAU LT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 720,163, dated February 10, 1903.

' Application filed January 9, 1902. Serial No. 239.064.. (N0 model.) I

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. LOCK- WOOD, of Lyons, in the county of Wayne, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Portable Burial- Vaults, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in burial-vaults, and relates more particularly to certain improvements upon my former patent, No. 609,358, of August 16, 1898.

The object of this invention is' to produce a sectional burial-vault the sections of which may be manufactured at a minimum cost, are strong and durable in use, and may be transported in a knockdown condition without liability of breakage and readily assembled u pon the ground to form a hermeticallysealed chamber.

To this end the invention consists in the combination, construction, and arrangement of the parts of a burial-vault, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the'claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly'broken away, of a burial-vault embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the intermediate adjacent slabs of the top wall. Fig. 3 is a sectional view through adjacent intermediate slabs of the bottom wall. Figs. 4: and 5 are perspective views, respectively, of one of the detached slabs of the bottom wall and one of the slabs of the top wall. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of one of the slabs of the side walls.

In the drawings, Fig. 1, I have shown a burial-vault comprising bottom, side, top, and end walls 1, 2, 3, and 4, the bottom wall being composed of a series of sections arranged edge to edge and having the upper faces of their meeting edges beveled for forming V- shaped grooves 5, adapted to receive a suitable filling 6, of concrete, cement, lead, or other equivalent, for the purpose of sealing the joints at said meeting edges. The slabs or sections forming the inclosing walls of the burial-vault may be of any desired material, such as concrete, cement, or earthenware, or any other material which may be molded to the desired form in a plastic condition and then either baked or allowed to set in the usual manner. In the manufacture of this class of burial-vaults, it has been found that a good quality of cement may be employed and molded to the desired form, provided a suitable bond is used to retain the segments in their integrity and to prevent disintegration or breakages in transportation, and I therefore provide each of the sections or slabs of the bottom, side, top, and end walls with a bond 7, here shown as consisting of a screenplate embedded in the material from which the slab is formed and preferably concealed therein. Although I have represented this bond as consisting of a wire screen, it is evident that I may employ sheet-metal strips arranged crosswise of each other or a perforated sheet-metal plate or any other equivalent bond having apertures to receive the plastic material and to thereby bind the particles of the mass firmly together.

I preferably provide the bottom slabs with transverse grooves 8,- which are adapted to receive tongues 9, formed upon the lower ends of the upright slabs of theside walls 2, the end slabs of the bottom wall being provided with lengthwise grooves 10 for receiving tongues 11, formed upon the lower edges of the slabs of the upright end walls 4. The upper ends of the slabs of the side Walls 2 are provided with tongues 12 and shoulders 13, and their meeting edges are provided with tongues and grooves interlocking with each other for forming a substantially integral side wall when the slabs are assembled.

The top wall 3 is constructed in the form of a fiat arch, being composed of a series of sections springing from the upper ends of the side walls 2 and formed continuous from side to side, the opposite ends of each of said sections being provided with grooves 14 and inner and outer depending flanges 15 and 16, the grooves 14 being adapted to receive the tongues 12 of the slabs of the upright wall 2, and the flanges l5 normally rest upon the shoulders 13 of the side-wall slabs. The

of the vault.

forming the sections continuous from end to end and providing their opposite ends with the flanges 15 and 16 the top and side walls are firmly locked together and are better adapted to resist any strain or load of the superimposed dirt or filling. The upper surfaces of the meeting edges of these top-wall sections are also beveled for forming V-shaped grooves 17, which are filled in with additional cement, lead, or other material 17,

adapted to hermetically seal the joints at said meeting edges.

The end walls 4 may be either formed in sections or in a single piece of cement, earthenware, or equivalent material and are provided on their inner faces with marginal grooves or tongues adapted to interlock with similar tongues or grooves in the adjacent edges of the top and side walls, these interlocking tongues and grooves serving to additionally support the walls of the burial-vault and preventing the entrance of any moisture to the interior chamber.

The meeting edges of the sections of the bottom and top walls are arranged to break joints with the meeting edges of the sections of the side walls, and it is apparent from the foregoing description that when the several sections are assembled in the manner seen in Fig. 1 the walls of the vault are substantially integral and are adapted to resist the pressure of the surrounding earth and also serve to prevent any interference with the contents of the vault, it being understood that it would be next to impossible to remove a body from these vaults or to otherwise interfere with the contents without considerable effort and consequent noise in breaking the slabs, which would be liable to lead to discovery.

The intermediate or main body-sections for the bottom, top, and side walls are all of substantially the same widtl1,of a size convenient for handling without breakage and without waste space in storage or transportation, the meeting edges of the top and bottom sections being in substantial vertical alinement and breaking joints with the side sections substantially midway between edges, while the end, top, and bottom sections are of less width (about half) than the intermediate sections. The end sections of the bottom wall and one section of the top wall project beyond the adjacent upright edges of the side walls, and the end edge of the other end section of the top wall is practically coincident with the corresponding edges of the side walls, so that one end wall 4 is capped by the adjacent top section and the other end wall laps upon the adjacent end face of the top wall, its upper face being, coincident with the upper face of the said top wall and is usually the last wall to be placed in position, the other sections of the vault being all previously and permanently secured in place.

The operation of my invention will now be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings, and it will be noted that some change may be made in the number, form, and arrangement of the slabs without departing from the spirit of this invention. Therefore I do not limit myself to the precise construction shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

The combination with the bottom wall formed adjacent its ends with grooves, side Walls secured to the said bottom walls, a top wall secured to the upper edges of the said side walls, said top wall being formed in its ends with outwardly-extending ribs, and end walls provided adjacent their upper ends with grooves to receive the ribs of the said top wall, and tongues formed integral with the lower edges of the said end walls and being received in the grooves of the said bottom wall, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of December, 1901.

BENJAMIN F. LOOKWOOD.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, H. P. DENISON. 

